Botswana has announced the discovery of the largest diamond ever found in the country and the second-largest in the world.
The remarkable 2,492-carat stone was unveiled at a ceremony on Thursday, August 22. The diamond, which has not yet been named, was presented at the office of Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who marveled at its size and weight, approximately half a kilogram.
“It is overwhelming,” Masisi said, expressing his amazement and inviting senior government officials to take a closer look.
The diamond was recovered by Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond Corp. from its Karowe Mine in northern Botswana. The company described the stone as “high-quality” and said it was found intact using X-ray technology.
It is still too early to determine the value of the diamond or how it will be sold. In 2016, a smaller diamond from the same mine fetched a record $63 million for a rough gem.
Botswana, the world’s second-largest diamond producer after Russia, has uncovered several of the largest diamonds in recent years. Diamonds, formed under extreme pressure deep underground, are at least a billion years old, with some dating back over 3 billion years.
This newly discovered diamond is the largest found in 119 years and the second-largest ever mined, trailing only the Cullinan Diamond, which was discovered in South Africa in 1905.
The 3,106-carat Cullinan was cut into several gems, some of which are part of the British Crown Jewels.
Botswana’s Karowe Mine has produced four other diamonds over 1,000 carats in the last decade. Prior to this discovery, the Sewelo diamond, found at the Karowe Mine in 2019, was the second-largest mined diamond in the world at 1,758 carats and was later purchased by French fashion house Louis Vuitton for an undisclosed amount.
